Historically, the vast majority of insured Americans are covered by a link to the work force, but this segment has been declining lately. During the 1987-2009 period, employment-based coverage declined from 70.1 percent to 59.0 percent of the nonelderly population while those with public health insurance (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, and various state non-Medicaid programs), grew from 13.7 percent to 21.1 percent. Those individuals buying their own coverage has long hovered around 6 percent.